While floods are devastating communities across Victoria, the water expected to flow along the Murray River and into South Australia's Coorong (Kurangk) lagoon system is expected to bring a much-needed boost to the wetland's water flows, fish and birdlife.
One of South Australia's most visited tourist destinations, the Ramsar-listed Coorong is perhaps best known for the region's iconic Australian pelicans, made famous by Colin Thiele's 1964 book Stormboy.
The State Emergency Service believes around 79,000 mega litres of water will flow into the South Australian part of the Murray River each day, increasing to 90,000 mega litres by early December.
The Department for Environment and Water's program leader for the Coorong, Lower Lakes, and Murray Mouth, Adrienne Rumbelow, said it would take some time for the increased flows to make their way down the river system.
"Normally, the travel times can be fairly quick from the Victorian border down to the lower lakes," she said.
"It's usually a couple of weeks, but with those big flows attenuating out into the floodplain, it can take a lot longer than usual.
"We're thinking that there'll be some higher flows coming to SA through November and early December."
Ms Rumbelow said while the flooding was terrible to see, the extra water flows into the Coorong were helpful in combating the region's high levels of salinity.
"The higher flows we're going to be getting over the next month … is really going to help reset the south lagoon, which is where we've had the biggest salinity impacts pretty much since the Millennium drought in the late noughties," she said.
Ms Rumbelow hoped the extra water would also help repair the Murray Mouth, which experienced a build-up of silt during the same drought period.
Ecological wonder
The ecology is also set to benefit from the new water flows, with estuarine fish such as mulloway, mullet and black bream expected to get a boost.
"I think the high flows, the fresher water, and lots of little tiny invertebrates that come down in the river water to the Coorong … will set up the baby black bream really well for the next few years," she said.
The department is also expecting the increased fish populations to help some of the wetland's bird populations.
"We're expecting to see a big breeding season this year for pelicans," Ms Rumbelow said.
"We think it will be really good for black swans as well, because we're seeing lots of the sea grasses coming back to the Coorong, which the swans feed on.
"But then, because the water levels are going to be really high, there won't be many mudflaps exposed, and that's what's needed to feed some of those migratory waders that come from all around the world to feed at the Coorong over summer.
"That's pretty typical with those higher flow years ... they'll go and find other other habitats."
